#Lore24 – Entry #75 – Fantasy Month #15 – Dragontail Isles

From the journal of Angeliqua “Goldeneyes” Cartacustos:

I would very much like to travel the seas someday, and perhaps at least view the Dragontail Isles from a distance, for exploring these islands is, at the very least, extremely dangerous, but the potential gains could be immeasurable if a proper expedition could be mounted and the gods were willing.  The Dragontail Isles are a smaller island chain that is attached to the southern region of a larger archipelago, the Dragonmaw, and are the only part of the archipelago that have been explored in any way since the Great Cataclysm, if not before.  Ancient magics of unimaginable power protect the main body of the Dragonmaw, and dangers far more mundane yet just as deadly protect the Dragontail Isles.

Consisting of a dozen small islands and countless atolls between them (the reefs of which make navigation through the area extremely challenging, as the alternative name for the Isles being the Great Graveyard of Ships indicates), the Dragontails share a generally long and narrow profile, and seem to have been formed through volcanic activity.  The climates are generally tropical, with frequent storms blowing in from the seemingly eternal tempests surrounding the greater Dragonmaw region, and most of the islands have some significant coverage of cypress trees in the coastal swampy areas, with some possessing nearly flat profiles, while others possess some significant rocky, nearly mountainous, areas.  The largest of these isles is approximately five miles long and two wide at the widest point.

The islands have varied inhabitants, though the locals mostly consist of pirate groups who use a few of the coves, and who have struck deals with the primary local population, kobolds.  The kobolds living here are tribal in nature, and generally more savage than those found within the Empire and other settled lands, and are especially territorial, not taking well at all to those who would dare set foot upon their lands.  They can be dealt with in some cases, as the pirates who make use of the islands have proven, likely through gifts and tribute (perhaps an echo of the ancient dragons receiving such gifts from those who would appease them).  Records are filled with stories from survivors of the savagery of these kobolds, who tend to slaughter interlopers without mercy, using their trained drakes as flying and swimming mounts and beasts of war.  Notably, some tribes are reportedly quite skilled saboteurs for all of their savage nature:  able to breathe beneath the waves, they approach moored vessels under the cover of night or during storms and proceed to tear the ships apart from below, collecting any stored treasures at their leisure once the crews have been dealt with.

It is the many hundreds of confirmed shipwrecks over the centuries that draw treasure hunters to the Dragontails, and one island in particular draws the most attention, Cypress Isle, the tip of the tail, so to speak.  Furthest from its sister islands, Cypress Isle is surrounded by the remnants of lost ships, but still has the easiest approach of all the islands in the chain.  Though not the largest, it has the most history associated with it, with tales of treasures buried upon it spanning centuries, and confirmed signs of habitation by groups other than the local kobolds, with at least one ruined fortification still visible along the coast.  Accounts from multiple survivors of shipwrecks upon the island likewise report smaller signs of civilization deeper within, reportedly even a graveyard haunted by the restless spirits.  It is the accounts of these survivors that also help to fuel the belief in great treasures upon the island, for their accounts are filled with descriptions of markers that supposedly point to treasures, manmade swamps filled with wrecked ships beneath the surface, even pits filled with deadly traps and ancient treasures.

Of course, such tales are not unique to this region, for there are countless such islands spread across the face of Andyllion, but I will admit, as skeptical as I am of such stories, enough similarities exist amongst the tales, and from multiple time periods, to make such stories at least plausible.  Likely there is a significant amount of wealth to be found from the shipwrecks alone, but what the kobolds do with their plunder hasn’t been determined.  Some assume they simply add it to their vast treasure hoards hidden within the volcanic tunnels below the islands, while some believe they may transport it, perhaps through these same tunnels or via their drakes, to the islands of the Dragonmaw, for it seems only the kobolds are able to reach these lands (as observed by a handful of explorers who noted their flight patterns from a distance, then tried to follow them in, only to be rebuffed by the storms).  I wonder if there is some intelligence to the storms, or simply an ancient magic preventing any who doesn’t share some form of draconic heritage from approaching them.  An expedition consisting entirely of kobolds could perhaps test the theory, but it is doubtful that any kingdom would fund such a folly.